♪ >> live on dw, this is "the journal." i am sarah harmon. european union foreign ministers call for a strong response but ask for thethe hold up on military action. the australian conservative coalition sweeps to power in national elections. or madrid?nbul the world waits for the announcement of the olympic host city.

>> the european union on saturday called for a strong evidence indicating that the asad regime was a deadlyle for chemical weapons attack against civilians in august, but stopped short of calling for military action. this followed a meeting of the ministers in lithuania. they have been sharply divided over how to respond to the calls for military action. will not takehey part in any punitive strike. but the united eu position was praised as a signal of invaluable importance. >> catherine ashton confirmed that european union member states had found a united is action over the events in syria, and said there should be no intervention before the inspectors released a report on the chemical attack from last month. but evidence shows that bashar al-assad's forces are to blame.

>> the international community cannot remain idle. a clear and strong response is crucial to make clear that such crimes are unacceptable and that there can be no impunity. >> the agreement convinced germany to sign a global statement drafted at the meeting in st. petersburg, calling for a response to the syrian government. sources say that john kerry refused to give insurance -- assurances that the u.s. would hold off on a military strike but says that the statement was a step forward. >> we are grateful for the statement that came out of the meeting today, with respect to syria. about the need for accountability, and i am particularly grateful for the comments of the president this morning, and the support of the foreign minister to the efforts

to hold the asad regime accountable for what they have done. >> the minister said that the international court of justice should look into prosecuting the perpetrators of the chemical attack. >> as john kerry courts international support for a strike against syria, president obama is back at home, trying to win support their. in his weekly address he urged americans and their leaders not to turn a blind eye to syria, stressing the use of force will be limited, and that syria would not become like a rock or afghanistan -- iraq or a fghanistan. germans have taken to the streets ahead of federal elections. they urged better data protection after the nsa scandal. and they urged voters not to -- not to support angela mark --

angela merkel. others called for more social justice. although officially neutral, the includescall -- election promises made by social democrats and the green and left party. tony abbott is expected to become the country's new prime minister after winning a landslide election victory. he would -- he said he was humbled and pledged stability after six years of labor government at work overshadowed by party infighting. rudd conceded defeat and step down as the head of the labor party. >> the future prime minister of australia was greeted with loud cheers by his supporters. tony abbott used this opportunity to make it clear that there will be major changes ahead. >> from today i declare that australia is under new

management, and once more open for business. campaign, he pledged to lower taxes, and expressed his opposition to same-sex marriage. as the prime minister he said he would crack down on illegal immigration and introduce paid maternity leave. he had a powerful ally in his election bid, rupert murdoch, who owns two thirds of the countries news outlets. him,were firmly behind with little positive to say about his rival, kevin rudd. during the campaign, the outgoing prime minister was able -- unable to win over voters by focusing on reducing greenhouse gases. judging by the cheers of the supporters, it appears that has wonn -- kevin rudd the election, but his time in office is over.

shortly after the polls closed he resigned as leader of labor. >> i know that the hearts of labor are heavy across the nation tonight. leader, i accept responsibility. >> in recent months, they were under disarray and voters punished the party at the polls. maldives ple of the went to the polls after their first president was ousted. mohamed nasheed said he was ousted in a military coup. the favorite is the current president, mohamed waheed. they are known for their luxury resorts and have been in turmoil since the ouster of nasheed.

two blasts rocked a popular restaurant in the capital of somalia. the assault began with a car bombing at the entrance of the restaurant, and then a suicide bomber and joined the crowds and detonated his best. took responsibility for the killing. the egyptian military -- military launched an offensive against militants in the northern sinai peninsula. they pounded suspected insurgent hideouts. 30 people were killed or wounded during the operation. the offense came two days after the attempted assassination of egyptian interior minister. security officials say that the militants behind the attack were linked to groups in sinai. red bullne racing and swept the qualifying for the italian grand prix.

three-time defending champion sebastian vettel will start alongside his teammate, mark webber, ending four straight pole positions by lewis hamilton of mercedes. >> they outpace the competition, and the germans have a chance to have pole position. this was a chastening site for farah rate. they could only manage fourth and fifth on the grid. mercedes was even worse. lewis hamilton lost control and finished outside the top 10. this is a fate he knows all too well. he flew through qualifying for a brilliant third place. we fueled for one lap, and this was the night -- the right call.

that made the surprise happen. >> all he has to worry about is the small matter of the race on hyundai. >> there is a feast of international soccer action across europe, with another round of world cup wildfires. germany booked a ticket to brazil with a win against austria. a special night in whoh for miraslov klosec, equaled the scoring record from 39 years ago. >> this season veteran show to the upstarts how to get the job done. he is a 35-year-old who broke the record of 68 goals for germany to the delight of his coach. >> i am happy i have reached that figure. now i will move on. we have to follow on from today's success in the next games. >> a short time later he missed the opportunity to set a new scoring record.

other than that germany was not that threatening but after the break they found their footing. he launched his second goal in the 54th minute. from then on, it was easy-going for france. france showed why they are under increasing criticism but stayed watertight. >> today, you could see how sharp that we are, then how the conditions were much better and i think our confidence, especially in the first half was enough to beat austria in the way that we did it. a fine combination put thomas mueller into the score line and germany was looking good. the only blemish was from a medic who had to be helped away.

>> sweden beat ireland in dublin, it was 1-1 before the decider in the 57th minute. in the group standings, germany is well on top. sweden will move into second and austria and ireland have an outside chance only. the international olympic committee is deciding on the host city for the 2020 summer olympics. this is between istanbul, tokyo, and madrid, but the spanish capital has just been eliminated. were tied,stanbul meeting tokyo was on top of the round. the host of the games will be contested in the second round of voting. presidingesident is over his final session before retiring on tuesday. he will announce the winner in a few hours.

another tough decision to make on sunday -- to choose the final sport on the 2020 olympic program. debut, orh make their will baseball return? this all depends on if they reverse a decision to dump wrestling, one of the classic olympic sports from the ancient games. the fate of wrestling was sealed in february, when it was ditched from the olympic program. seen as too complex and unattractive, it had little to recommend to modern audiences. but this port is rich in tradition and has an important place in the classic games. since the ousting from the modern games, many campaigners have been tireless in their efforts to have it restored. the former president of iran welcomed u.s. wrestlers to his country and sent athletes to new

york to support the sport. >> the most important thing is to be unified around the fact that we have to do things like this, we are hoping to promote our sport and raise the profile of wrestling across the world. >> the international wrestling federation has done their bit as increasing the number of the events for women. and now as they vote to grant olympic status to squash or baseball or wrestling, the sport that was feared to be out for the count now has a fighting chance. >> we go to golf. after the third round of the leadsan masters, greg lee the way from scotland. withen gallagher was tied scott -- and he shot a round of 65 to bring him level. battle, withtense

half the players still in contention. festival, thefilm italian documentary directed by gianfranco rosi won the golden lion for best movie. "the police officer's wife" received the special jurors prize. this dealt with a young couple dealing with the mystic abuse. youngnt hours talking to the mysticling with abuse. the united states has launched lunar atmosphere and dust atmosphere explorer. the mission comes with a big price tag, of just over 200 million euros. nasa wants to investigate before another country since spacecraft

that may cause permanent damage to the delicate lunar atmosphere. that brings us to the end of this edition of the journal. for all of us, thanks for watching. >> they are very bad neighbors. all that they do is exploit us, because they have nothing. the people over there in gibraltar have is the droppings from the apes on their rug. fishermen from the summer spanish port are angry with neighbors from the other side of the bay.

they are always looking to cause trouble with the fishermen. we are the scapegoats. they always have to do something to us to get the attention of the spanish government. where does all the anger come from. on the ocean bed, on the other side of the bay. more than 300 years ago, the british conquered this had land. 300 years ago the british controlled the entrance to the mediterranean. now this is a tax haven and a constant bone of contention. this is the chairwoman of the fishery association, and she can hardly contain her anger.

>> in this section is wher they sank the concrete blocks, right where we are now. late july, the government of gibraltar dropped 70 concrete blocks into the ocean, with the explanation they want to create an artificial reef to protect the fish stocks in the bay. maria thinks that gibraltar is trying to lay exclusive claim to the bay. >> they want to take it away try us, she says, and they to damage us any way that they can. now they have thrown concrete blocks into the water, so that our fishing boats can't fish here anymore. the nets catch on the polls and they tear. it is possible to fish elsewhere, she says, but the

catch here is much better than anywhere else. spanish fishermen are not going to give up these waters without a fight. >> if they don't take out the blocks, maria says, then we will. we have people who can do that. and who are ready to help us. i don't know how far i will get with this, but they have stolen the area where we fished our whole lives. we have to work and we are honest people who have to feed our families. it is hard to believe such a small patch of ocean is causing so much trouble. in city hall, it becomes clear that the problem is not just a local matter. the mayor is meeting the leader of the spanish border police,

who has come to get a picture of the situation on the ground. things are escalating. concerned,adrid is this belongs to spain. the british see this different -- differently, believing the water to be british sovereign territory. the mayor thinks that the coastal dispute is only the beginning. >> this is the last colony on european soil, he says, and no one understands why spain does not get back the land that belongs to them. it is true they want to look for alternatives, but the ultimate goal has to be for spain to get their territory back. just because the british are stubborn and exert rusher every time they don't get their own way does not mean the others have to just give in. spain will not give in.

>> the situation on the border is extremely tense. spanish border officials check every traveler, especially at rush hour. andresult is long rides -- many people believe this is deliberate harassment. for spanish people who have to go every day to work this is intolerable. this means the working day is intolerable. but nobody in madrid is interested. they have to put up with this day in and day out. causes tension.

often this will spill over into open dispute. some spaniards in this border area are increasingly unhappy with their own government and don't understand the demand for gibraltar to be returned to spain. >> spain should stay british. i think that spain is getting in over its head here. said this could become a crisis. once they made it across the border they have to cross the runway of gibraltar airport. kilometers,n square

it may be small but gibraltar is used to defending itself. the holes in the cliff face are part of the defensive history. they are part of a network of defense tunnels dug into the cliffs hundreds of years ago. gail francis charon is a member of the defenders of old and knows all about the present disputes of her birthplace. >> this is essential in the defending of gibraltar. sufficiente to have guns here pointing to the enemy, if they had any intention of coming here. >> plenty of people had this intention, they have been

deceased several times in the history, 14 times since britain took control of the cliff. the longest siege was by spain, lasting three and a half years, ending in 1783. gale's own spirit of resistance was kindled by a more modern form of siege. 1969, francisco franco, the fascist dictator sealed the border completely, cutting off electricity supplies and this lasted 16 years. >> we were locked in here from francetil 1982, when opened the border partially. my youth was spent locked up in here at the hands of francisco franco. this made us a more close-knit community. here, they others

are partially defined by the speed with spain. >> if this is not one thing, this is another. for example, the football team -- spain was against it, and a cruise liner company stopped coming here because if you go to gibraltar, you will come to spain -- and the list is endless. >> a lot of people think it has not been this bad for a long time. but there is no sign of any willingness to give in. what does the colonies chief minister stay -- chief minister say? cannot find any other officials willing to talk about the disputes. the minister is summoned to london, with new talks about the sovereignty of gibraltar.

the british government stands firmly behind its colony. will consider the handover to spain. they are too proud and there is too much resentment against their bigger neighbor. >> that would make our lives uneasy and then it will destroy everything. >> the british identity here is equally rooted, and they would like to keep it on display, especially during times like these. every week these amateur performers stage a traditional closing of the city gates. >> the conflict is just a

smokescreen to the problems they and we havelly, been british for the last 309 years, we tend to be british for a lifetime. >> there have been two referendums, locally, almost 100% in favor of the remaining british. that is what we want. we want to be left -- and we have determined of our own accord, this has been brought to us by the british and the united nations and we decided to remain british. two recognize that we are a british neighbor. >> the bay of gibraltar looks peaceful from here. there is no sign of the stubbornness and the provocation, the anger. only the macaq monkeys are

fighting. it is said if they ever leave the colony, british rule will end. but the population of 300